Bumblebees

This week with Mother Goose Time we're learning about different kinds of bees and wasps.  Day 7 was all about bumblebees.  During circle time we used the hands on letter B and worked on coming up with words that started with that sound.  Elli also pretended to be a bee and flew to different things in the house that were blue.

Elli made her own letter B bee craft.  She asked me to cut the parts of the bee out for her, and then she glued them all on.  She also decided her bee needed a nose, and she found a pom pom in our craft box that she thought worked perfectly.  Her bee is now hanging on the fridge.

Bumblebees can sting many times.  Elli made bees out of play-dough and gave them toothpick stingers.  She used them to sting her stuffed animals.

 Elli had so much fun playing how many stings.  She would spin the included spinner and then stick the same number of red sticker "stings" on her body.  Then we would count them all.  We talked about how bees sting when they feel threatened and it's best to leave them alone.

 Elli used a pom pom and pretended it was a pet bumblebee.  I asked her how she would take care of a pet bee, and she said she would put it in her cradle and cover it with blankets.  We read the rhyme time poster and talked about which words rhymed.

There was a science activity for today, but unfortunately I didn't have cornmeal so we didn't get to do it.  Elli decided she wanted to paint some bee and butterfly stamps we have as an alternative.  She loves art, and especially painting.  Elli picked out the paper and type of paint she wanted to use; she was able to make her own choices.  She worked on color identification.  She also was able to see that mixing red and blue made purple. Art projects are a great way to improve fine motor skills and hand eye coordination.  We also counted how many bugs she stamped on her paper when she was done, and compared the sizes.  Art is such a natural way for children to learn and develop.